Tetra Pak develops world first plant-based carton

Tetra Pak develops world first plant-based carton

In a world first, global packaging company Tetra Pak has launched what it claims is the first carton made entirely from plant based, renewable packaging.

Called the Tetra Rex, the carton will be the first on the market to use bio-based, low density polyethylene (LDPE) films and abio-based high density polyethylene (HDPE) cap.

Made from certified sustainable paperboard and sugar cane the cartons will be available on shelfs as of next year, a spokesperson has confirmed.

“We believe that increasing the renewable content of our packages is not only good for the environment, but also offers our customers a competitive advantage in the overall environmental profile of their products.”

The company is also looking towards a 100 per cent renewable packaging across all its products.

“We want to lead a new industry commitment to what we call renewability — protecting natural resources and rewarding best practices and innovations that focus on the front end of the packaging life cycle; practices and innovations that will keep the consumer packaged goods industry strong and viable in an increasingly volatile economy.

“Renewability, as we see it, is about using a resource that can be re-grown or replenished naturally over time, so that there is enough for all, forever. And we think renewability is critical to help offset the environmental and economic strain caused by more of us using scare natural resources to make more.”

Now the company is calling on others brands to follow suit and “walk the walk” on renewability. They’ve even launched a campaign, called “Moving to the front” to raise industry awareness of the importance of the front end of the packaging life cycle — the sourcing of renewable materials — and are calling on the consumer goods industry to commit to prioritizing renewability.

“Any actor within the supply chain who directly or indirectly relates to packaging needs to ensure the stability and sustainability of these natural resources in order to help secure business growth, better manage and mitigate against geopolitical threats to supply and build brand equity and more,” Tetra Pak says